Refrigerating cabinet



R. w.' DAVENPORT REFRIGERATING CABINET Nov. 28, 1933.

Filed May 8, 1930 INVENTO. Rc1/750m /4/. Dave/7pm# MWM ' ATTORNEY.

. Patented Nov. 28, 1933 1,937,009 REFRIGERATING cAnmE'r Ransom W.Davenport, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company,New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application May s, 1930.serial No. 450,093l z claims. (c1. ias-24) This invention relates torefrigerating apparatus and more particularly to storage and displaycabinets for frozen foods which must be maintained in a frozen conditionuntil prepared for consumption.

Heretofore display refrigerators have been called upon merely for themaintenance of temperatures at or near freezing or higher. For suchrelatively mild temperature service it is entirely feasible to provideglass windows of considerable area through which the contents of thecabinet may be seen and selected for purchase. The heat4 losses throughsuch glass exposures are ordinarily not excessive, particularly when twoor more panes or thicknesses separated by air spaces are used. With thedevelopment, however, of the Birdseye process of fast low temperaturefreezing of foods which require storage temperatures at least twentydegrees and more below those which were 20 formerly suitable, thewell-known display cabinets vfail to maintain the necessary lowtemperature to preserve the food due to excessive heat losses inherentin exposing the contents for inspection and display through the usualglass covered openings. y

One object of the invention is to provide eicient means for keeping ondisplay frozen foods requiring extraordinarily low temperatures. Anotherobject is to arrange a low temperature storage cabinet so that thecontents may be seen without exposing them to heat from the outsidetemperature. Still another object is to enable such display and storagecabinets to be cheaply built and economically operated. Other objectswill be apparent from the detailed description which follows.

Instead of displaying the contents of the cabinet through glass windowsor other transparent enclosures of considerable area, the presentinvention involves the thorough and complete insulation of lall sides ofthe cabinet. To display the contents suitable means are provided foreffecting an external optical projection of the same in plain view ofthe customer. Such a projection is so arranged as to require merely anaperture of insignicant area in the cabinet through which heat lossescan be effectively prevented. 'Ihe screen or the like upon which theimage is projected lmay be arranged as a false front on the cabinetthereby giving tothe customer the illu- 'sion of looking directly intothe cabinet. Suitable doors on the cabinet on the side opposite thescreen may give access to the contents whose image appears on the screenas well as to a large storage space for additional foods. Suitable meansare provided for illuminating the interior without appreciably heatingit either from without or from within. r l

In order to illustrate the invention one concrete embodiment thereof isshown in the accompanying drawing the single view of which is a verticaltransverse sectional view of a storage and display cabinet.

The drawing shows a cabinet A of the general` type used in stores forthe storage and display of refrigerated foods. Since the refrigerator isintended to keep frozen foods,at a temperature between zero and 15 F.,it has thick walls thoroughly and completely insulating all sides of thesame as with several inches oi slab cork or other efficient insulatingmaterial 2. One or more doors 3 also with thick walls of insulatingmaterial 2 give access to theinterior of the cabinet. The latter may bemaintained at the desired low temperature by any known or suitablerefrigeratin'g apparatus. In the present instance an evaporator 4comprising coils lof pipe is shown adjacent the top' of the refrigeratorwith removable drip pans 5 disposed immediately therebelow. Theremainder of the refrigerating apparatus ,(not shown) may be housed in acompartment at one end of cabinet A or immediately adjacent thereto ormay be disposed at a remote point, as' in the basement of the store. Thelower portion of the interior of cabinet A provides a large storagespace in which the frozen foods b, either packaged or otherwise, may bedisposed.

Since it is an aid to merchandising to permit the customer to see whathe is buying, suitable means comprising an important feature of thepresent invention are provided for making the contents of cabinet Avisible to the purchaser. Optical means are provided for this purposewhich will not expose the interior ofthe cabinet to excessive loss ofheat. To this end a relatively small aperture 6 is provided in the upperfront face of the cabinet which aperture may be closed on its outer andinner sides by sheets '7 of heavy transparent material, such as plateglass. Within the aperture is provided one or more lenses 8 arranged totransmit an image of the contents of cabinet A upon the exterior of thesame, somewhat after the principle of the camera obscura. In order togive the customer the illusion of looking directly into the cabinet, asuperstructure 9 of some kind is mounted upon the wall of theLcabinetcontaining aperture 6 to support a screen 10 upon which the image of theinterior of the cabinet is directly projected. By preference thesuperstructure is in the form of a complete closure 110 false front ispreferably disposed within the vertical and horizontal projections ofthe cabinet.

The interior of cabinet A may be illuminated in any suitable or desiredmanner preferably withoutl appreciably heating the same. While this canbe done from the exterior by the use of one or more incandescent lampsequipped with a heat filter, such an arrangement would involve tingadditional apertures in the Wall of the cabinet and it is preferabletoprovide illuminating equipment Within the cabinet in the form ofmercury vapor or neon tube lamps 11 having reflectors 12.

To give the customer view of the foods sold,

a substantially full sized it is also preferable to A bring those whichare displayed relatively-close cabinet at a temperature below 15 to thelenses 8 of the optical system. Accordinga shelf 13 is provided withinthe cabinet adjacent the apertured wall upon which the display foods care disposed. Shelf 13 is arranged to hide from the optical means thestorage space in which foods b are placed without preventing free accessthereto through door 3.

It is to be understood that the arrangement herein shown and describedmerely embodies the essence of the invention in an operable form andthat the latter is capable of wide variation and modification withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention which are set forthin the accompanying claims.

, I claim as my invention:

1. A refrigerator cabinet for frozen foods having heavily insulatedwalls on all sides and providing alarge storage space and a smallerspace for display purposes, means for maintaining said F., one of thewalls of said cabinet adjacent the top being at an cuti 1,987,009providing a false front on the cabinet and the incline and having `anaperture therethrough, a support beneath said aperture for articles tobe displayed and dividing the display space from the storage space, asuperstructure including a screen above said inclined wall and aperturebut withinthe vertical and horizontal projections of said cabinet,optical 'means within said aperture for throwing upon said screen asubstantially full-size image of the articles on said support, saidoptical means including a lens, and sheets of thick transparent materialacross said aperture on opposite sides of said lens but in spacedrelation thereto for restricting heat losses through said aperture.

2. A refrigerator cabinet for frozen foods having heavily insulatedwalls on all sides and providing a large storage space and a smallerspace for display purposes, means for maintaining said cabinet at atemperature below 15 frigerating coils adjacent the top of said cabinet,one of the side walls of said cabinet having a portion inclined from theperpendicular and havingan aperture therethrough, a shelf below saidaperture dividing the display space from the storage space andconcealing the latter from said aperture, a superstructure including ascreen above said inclined wall and aperture but within the,vertical andAhorizontal projections of said cabinet, optical means within saidaperture for throwing upon said screen a substantially fullsize image ofarticles on said shelf, said coils being out of range of said opticalmeans, means preventing heat losses through said aperture, andilluminating means for said articles between said coils and saidaperture but out of range of said optical means. f

RANSOM W. DAVENPORT.

F. including re-

